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Festive Finds: Featuring Nespresso & Sur La Table

November 13, 2014 by kim 6 Comments

For the upcoming holiday season, I’ve teamed up with Nespresso and Sur La Table to create a preview of my “Festive Finds!” The wonderful folks sent me on my own personal shopping experience, where I got to visit the Nespresso boutique in Beverly Hills for lunch before heading over to shop at Sur La Table in the Farmers Market, Los Angeles.

I had no idea that Nespresso had boutiques where you can actually order food and coffee at! All that I’ve ever seen are the little shops in departments stores where you can sample and purchase their machines.

We ordered a quick bite to eat (which ended up being a lot more food than I imagined!). I ordered the club sandwich with the special drink for the month of October. It was called the Caramelo and had salted caramel ice cream, milk, caramel, cinnamon, and Voltesso Grand Cru.

My DH ordered the prosciutto panini and an iced dulce de leche drink.

When we couldn’t possibly eat any more, we went over to Sur La Table, where I fell in love with just about everything in the store. I also bored my DH since I spent so long roaming the aisles figuring out what to spend my gift cards on.

Gosh, how I wish my pantry looked like that picture above. I. would. die. Hey, a girl can dream.

What did I end up walking away with? Well, I’ll show you!

I’m one happy camper! Let’s break it down.

White Colander Ornament // Have you seen Sur La Table’s ornament collection? They’re the best stocking stuffers for the chef, baker, and foodie in your family! They’re unique and beautifully crafted.
Vintage Inspired Pot Holders // This one just happens to be on sale (score!). They also have matching oven mitts to go with them. White elephant gift, anyone?
Bamboo Chopsticks, Set of 5 // I’ve had a hard time finding a decent set of chopsticks. My DH and I prefer them over forks when it comes to eating soups and noodles, so it’s about time I found a set for our home.
Nespresso VertuoLine with Aeroccino Plus // This machine has replaced the Keurig in our household because it makes both coffee and espresso! Only one machine needed. Limited counter space in our kitchen means we’re highly selective of what we leave out. The VertuoLine has a barcode reading technology that allows each cup to be personalized by knowing its size, water temperature, rotational speed, and more! It’s available in red, black, and chrome. My favorite part is that it’s topped with crema! You an also just buy the Aeroccino Plus by itself here.
Meri Meri Blue and Green Toot Sweet Bake Cup Set // Sur La Table’s baking aisle is spot on. They have a cookie cutter for every occasion, more mason jars than you could imagine, and whimsical cupcake liners to match any party theme. These would be great for adding to a gift basket.
Le Creuset Signature Rosemary 10-Piece Set // I’ve been dreaming about Le Creuset pans for as long as I’ve been creating concoctions in the kitchen. Sur La Table carries their pots and pans in a variety of colors, but I’m a sucker for that soft green.
Ice Cream Cone Bowl // What do you get for the person that has everything? Ice cream bowls!

I also bought E. Guittard Semisweet chocolate wafers (who doesn’t need more chocolate to bake with during the holidays?), a Le Creuset super-size silicone spatula (it’s GLITTERY!), Ikat Napkins, and Nespresso glass cups.

All in all, you can definitely find a gift for anyone and everyone at Sur La Table. They’re the one stop destination for your shopping needs this holiday season.

This is a sponsored post, but the opinions expressed are my own.

DIY Handkerchief Save The Dates

June 25, 2014 by kim 14 Comments

I’ve been slacking on the wedding posts. I sent my save the dates out months ago and I still haven’t shared them on my blog with you guys!

Generally, you send out save the dates if you’re having a lot of people come from far away or if you’re having a destination wedding. This was not the case for us since most of our family are local and we’re getting married a short drive away from our hometown. I chose to send them out anyways because A: I love sending and receiving snail mail, B: We’re getting married on a holiday weekend, and C: It’s a great excuse for an arts and crafts project!

They turned out to be exactly what I was envisioning in my head. That’s a huge accomplishment because that never happens! I’ll show you exactly how I made mine.

First, you have to start and get your handkerchiefs. You can go to estate sales and find them one by one (which is a pain in the butt, but some people love the hunt), buy new ones in the store (places like Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Store even have them! Of course, they’re very limited in the design), or buy them online. Since I wanted a more vintage feel, I bought mine online from eBay (don’t worry, they’re still brand new!). You can also find some on Amazon.

Once I received them in the mail, I washed, dried, and ironed each one.

Ah, is there a better sight than a pile of freshly pressed hankies? Probably.

Now for the stamp… I worked with an Etsy seller, TheRUBBERPress, to design a stamp that I loved since nothing that I found jumped out to me. After a couple of revisions, I had my stamp. In fact, we both loved it so much that TheRUBBERPress made it a staple in the store! You’re welcome, guys. 🙂

Etsy truly has some amazing, creative people on there. Now for the stamp pad. I took a lot of time researching the best stamp pads for fabric. I needed a stamp pad that wouldn’t bleed or fade, had a strong pigment, and must be great with fine lines.

I ended up getting Tsukineko’s unique pigment called Versafine in Onyx Black. Yes, just yes. This stamp pad made my life so much easier. It’s a miracle worker.

I laid my stamp down with the rubber facing up and gently patted the ink pad across the surface.

Cover every centimeter!

Carefully place the stamp where you want it to be.

Apply pressure.

Make sure to press down on all the edges! You don’t want any missed spots or illegible writing.

Voi-la! That’s one done. Now you have 150 more to go.

Think you’re done? Not even close. After letting them dry overnight (you definitely didn’t need to, the ink was dry almost instantaneously, but I just wanted to be safe and I was tired!), it’s time to assemble them to fit nicely into an envelope.

Get out your twine. I have this pack and I love it! So many colors to choose from.

It’s nicer to buy in bulk if you have a lot of hankies to wrap. Here are some other great twine buys:

one.
two.
three – as pictured.
four – I own this twine too and it’s never ending! Great for wrapping gifts and cookies.

I bought 5″x7″ cardstock online as well from Paper and More. I found that they had the best price for the quantity that I needed. If you don’t need that many, it’s probably better to walk into your local crafts store with their 40% off coupon and get it there.

Here’s how I chose to wrap mine with a centered stamp:

Easy peasy! Some of my hankies had designs in the middle, so I stamped them in one corner. I couldn’t fold them the same way, so they ended up looking like the ones on the left:

It was a wonderful project and I’d highly recommend making your own save the dates at home! With some smart shopping, these didn’t break the bank and didn’t go over the weight for a regular postage when mailing. Score!

Oh, I used these envelopes for mailing. They safely packaged my precious hankies all the way to the recipient!